Welcome to the world of DayZ, hit by a new and presently unknown infection which has wiped out most of the world's population. You are one of the few that have survived and now you must search this new wasteland in order to fight for your life against what is left of the indigenous population now infected with the disease. Go solo, team up with friends or take on the world, as you choose your path in this brutal and chilling landscape using whatever means you stumble upon to survive.

DayZ is a gritty, authentic, open-world survival horror hybrid-MMO game, in which players follow a single goal: to survive in the harsh post-apocalyptic landscape as long as they can. Players can experience powerful events and emotions arising from the ever-evolving emergent gameplay. There are no superficial tips, waypoints, built in tutorials or help given to players. Every decision matters, there are no save games, no extra lives, every mistake can be lethal. If you fail, you lose everything and you need to play again from the beginning with nothing but your wits, and your two hands. Fight the hostile environment, where every other player can be friend or foe and nothing can be taken for granted.

As 2015 draws to a close and we approach the two year milestone of DayZ in the Steam Early Access program, the DayZ development team would like to show our deep appreciation to those who have joined us on the journey of this landmark title.

We more than anyone understand the frustrations and difficulties that come with participating in the public development of a game. As the team marches along with the new Enfusion engine development, we with our community have weathered broken or missing features, near game-breaking bugs, general growing pains, cheating issues and more. We’ve also experienced exciting landmarks and vital improvements alongside them.

We count ourselves lucky to have one of the most passionate, dedicated gaming communities sticking by us through the good and bad, aiding the team in making massive gains and advancements we might never have been able to accomplish without Early Access and those who have participated in it. With our goal set for a 2016 release from Early Access and the coming 1.0 of DayZ, lets take a quick look at what we have ahead of us:

• Steam Workshop support (Modding)
• Barricading
• Aerial Vehicles
• New Renderer
• New robust Animation System
• Enhanced Audio System support
• Predators
• Finalized Chernarus +
• Animal Companions
• New more modern UI & Inventory
• Public Server Binaries & Servlet/Database Release
• New User Actions & Fluid movement within the game world

And that’s only the beginning.

The entire DayZ team is exceptionally excited about the coming year. We look forward to building this world with our growing community, seeing even more amazing stories play out and sharing landmark moments with everyone that has made this game what it is so far. We thank you, and to everyone who has joined us along the way on our march to DayZ’s ultimate release - this wouldn’t be possible without every one of you.